DATE=4/18/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=LEBANON ATTACKS / ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL
NUMBER=5-46148
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=QANA, SOUTH LEBANON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Lebanon, a Syrian construction worker has
been killed and three people severely wounded by
shelling near the southern Lebanese buffer zone
occupied by Israel. The attack comes as Israeli jets
fired on suspected guerrilla bases in the region and
local residents marked the anniversary of an Israeli
raid four years, ago which killed more than 100
civilians near a United Nations monitoring post.
Correspondent Scott Bobb was in the region and filed
this report.
TEXT: The laborer was killed at dawn Tuesday, when
what appears to have been a tank shell exploded inside
the bedroom in which he and three relatives were
sleeping. The shell crashed through the outer wall of
the simple, cement house and exploded, shattering the
walls inside and scattering clothing and the
residents' meager belongings everywhere.
/// OPT ///
A distraught neighbor, Yaman ad-Dor, picked up a pair
of blood-soaked work pants and described in broken
English how the shell struck while everyone was
asleep.
/// NEIGHBOR ACT ///
Morning time. Six o'clock. Today. One died. And
one got dirty (bloody) all his body. All. One
got his leg cut off. And this man (who) die, no
speak. No speak. He have four daughters. Four
babies.
///END ACT.///
Mrs. ad-Dor tells a friend who has come to comfort her
that the neighbors heard the wounded screaming, but no
one dared go out to help.
/// END OPT ///
The attack came from one of several nearby hills in
the buffer zone occupied by Israel for the past 22
years. The house sits on the side of a hill about 100
meters from an observation post of the United Nations.
U-N monitors are expected to take on a greater role in
the region after Israel withdraws by July. Although
the Lebanese military is due to take over
responsibility for security, many Lebanese are worried
that there will be more violence as various rival
groups and their militias try to extend their
influence.
On the same day, Lebanese observed the anniversary of
one of the worst incidents of violence in south
Lebanon in recent years. This occurred when Israeli
missiles struck a United Nations hospital in a
residential area in the town of Qana. One hundred six
civilians died in the raid, including a dozen U-N
staff members.
Thousands of people gathered Tuesday to mark the event
under heavy clouds, above which could be heard the
drone of Israeli fighter planes. A memorial and a
museum have been erected at the site next to the
marble tombs of the victims.
One of the organizers, Abu Jaffer, says almost no one
leaves with dry eyes after seeing the exhibit and its
photographs of the victims after the tragedy.
/// OPT JAFFER ACT. IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH
TRANSLATION///
People came from all over today from schools,
from trade unions. A delegation even came from
Syria to lay wreaths on the tombs of the victims
of the Qana massacre.
/// END OPT ACT.///
Israel is withdrawing from south Lebanon because of
casualties suffered in attacks by Hezbollah
guerrillas. However, it has warned of heavy
retaliation for any attacks on Israeli territory. Mr.
Jaffer said the people of the region welcome the
Israeli withdrawal.
///JAFFER ACT. IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION///
People hope that they (the Israeli's) withdraw
from Lebanon once and for all, and without
coming back. And then people will be happy.
/// END ACT ///
However, Mr. Jaffer says people in the region are
suspicious because the Israeli withdrawal is
unilateral and does not resolve many related issues.
As if to underscore the point, a 30-minute mortar
attack begins about four kilometers away.
///SOUND OF SHELLING///
As the shelling intensifies, organizers advise people
to leave the shrine. A professor of political science
at the American University of Beirut, Nizar Hamzeh,
says the Israeli withdrawal will have an impact on
Lebanese society in general.
/// HAMZEH ACT ///
This is a unilateral withdrawal where you do not
have an agreement between Syria and Israel, a
withdrawal that from the Israelis' point of view
seems reasonable, acceptable, efficient, but for
Lebanese and Syria brings too many questions.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Hamzeh says the questions include the fate
of several thousand pro-Israeli militiamen in the
south, the future of several hundred thousand
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and the stalled peace
negotiations with Syria, which maintains 35-thousand
troops here. Hizbollah, whose resistance is mostly
responsible for the Israeli withdrawal, says it will
allow the Lebanese army to deploy in the region and
indicates it may cease military operations. However,
the other parties are not pleased that their
aspirations have not been met. And they have indicated
the violence will not end until those aspirations are
met. (Signed)
NEB/SB/GE/ENE/gm
18-Apr-2000 15:45 PM EDT (18-Apr-2000 1945 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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